His Butler, caring
by mysticdragon2016
Summary: When Ciel is confined to bed, Sebastian must take care of the young earl how has given up hope.
1. Chapter 1

"Humans are such fragile things." Sebastian said quietly as he pulled the blanket over Ciel. The Earl was pale and severely weakened by a combination of his Asthma and a recent illness. The doctor who examined him concluded that the boy , though he would live, would remain in his current, frail health.

"It would seem so. " Ciel's voice was almost a whisper.

"How are you feeling?" Sebastian asked.

"Do you really have to ask, isn't it obvious to you?" Sebastian could hear the frustration in his master's voice.

"Can I bring you some tea, that often helps you when you're ill, I believe there's still -"

"Sebastian?"

"Yes my lord?"

"If this is to be my life now,what can I possibly hope to accomplish?"

"You aren't giving up are you?"

"You sound upset, don't worry, you'll get your reward. I promised it to you and I won't stop you from taking it. The illness won't affect it will it?"

"No, it would taste the same, however I can't honestly tell you that I earned it. You haven't fulfilled -"

"Take it. I've had enough of this. End this and I will consider our contract complete. I won't spend my life as an invalid. I can't even leave my bed. you continued to solve the Queen's problems on your own and found our answers,I can't -"

"It wouldn't do you any good to think that way. You are many things my lord, but you're certainly not someone who -"

"I can't do it Sebastian. I'm so weak and -"

"Hush now, it will be alright." The demon stroked his Master's hair.

"Don't worry about such things, I will help you in anyway I can. As long as you receive the care you need, you will always have an opportunity to find a way of doing things. I will of course, be at your side.

"You're not going to take my soul and leave?"

"no. If I left here, you wouldn't be cared for properly and would die soon after."

"Why does that matter to you?" Ciel turned his head in an effort to hide the sudden pain.

"Because I truly care for you. I will do all I can to help you, but in return, you must not give in. Do this for me and your soul will forever be your own. Doctors have been known to be wrong about certain things and though I'm not sure why, I have a strong feeling that you're one of them." Sebastian said quietly.

"What if you're wrong, I'll be in this bed the rest of my life, it's no way to live."

"What about Lady Elizabeth?"

"What about her,she'll be fine."

"Master, she would be utterly devastated by the loss. You are engaged after all."

"I was planning to call it off, I couldn't possibly - it's not fair to her." Ciel coughed lightly.

"I'm not convinced that this plan is best. You can do better than that my lord."

"Can't you let me die in peace?" Ciel asked frustrated with his situation.

"I certainly cannot. I believe there's still some strength in you, give yourself time and be patient. Give me the chance to help you recover."

"recover,you heard the bloody doctor. I'm not going to get better."

"Please trust me. If I'm wrong, I promise that I will end your suffering. Until then, allow me to care for you, give me the chance."

"Sebastian -"

"I can't allow you to leave this world so soon. As your butler, it would be irresponsible to ignore it and allow your life to end while hope remains."

"I can't."

"You can and will."

"who the hell do you think you are, talking to me that way?"Ciel replied angrily.

"Simply one hell of a butler, you should know that by now, young master. Now then, rest quietly and I will bring the tea in shortly." Sebastian said turning to leave.

"I hate you..bloody demon" Ciel called after him. Sebastian stopped.

"That's quite alright my Lord, I'm not here for you to like me, I have a job to do." Sebastian disappeared from sight. Ciel groaned softly at the pain.

"You better know what you're doing Sebastian." He whispered closing his eyes. He wouldn't speak to his butler the rest of the day.


	2. Chapter 2

"Young Master,It's time to wake up now, Lady Elizabeth is scheduled to visit with you this afternoon, you must open your eyes."Sebastian's voice called. Ciel felt a cooling sensation on his face as he struggled to open his eyes.

"You can do it Young Master, I know it can be difficult, but you must try." Ciel moaned softly, allowing his head to tilt to one side.

"S-Sebastian, I-I can't" he said weakly.

'you can, keep trying. please trust in me." The soothing voice requested. After several minute's Ciel's eyed fluttered open at last and he looked up at his butler. Sebastian smiled.

"Well done Young Master, you've succeeded at last." Ciel didn't reply, the room around him seemed to be spinning and he closed his eyes once more.

"My lord, I'm afraid I must insist that you-" Sebastian's voice was fading and Ciel was sinking into the darkness. Suddenly, the coolness was back and a gentle hand was stroking his hair.

"Come on, try again." the butler said patiently.

"C-Can't, I feel so weak and-"

"I understand you're feeling ill, but please young master, you mustn't give in to your illness. Once you give up, I'm afraid I can't be of much help to you. It's as much your decision as it is-"

"Why must it be so difficult?" Sebastian knelt down beside the bed, stroking his master's cheek with a cool, damp cloth.

"Illness is not meant to be easy, I have seen humans who like you are even more fragile than the rest. I can't imagine what you're feeling, demons so rarely become weak. please open your eyes." Sebastian said calmly. Ciel moaned softly, as he finally complied.

"I meant what I said my lord, you can regain your health. I will do all I can to help you, but I need you to try."

"You say that because you don't know what it feels like. " Ciel grumbled.

" I say it because I know you can do better. I don't know how else to say it, perhaps if you stop feeling sorry for yourself you won't have such a difficult time. I've brought some soup, it seems to be the easiest for you to take right now, we'll work our way up to other meals slowly."

"For someone who claims to care for me, you seem to enjoy torturing me a lot." Sebastian sighed.

"If this is torture to you, I must apologize, because I will not give up on you. You are very young to be in this situation and I cannot allow a child to-"

"I'm not a child." Ciel protested weakly.

"You aren't an adult either, you are at a difficult stage in your life and it was only made more complicated by your current state of heath. Get through this visit as best you can. If it becomes too much for you, I will step in,however-"

"It's already too difficult you know what she's like. She'll get upset seeing me like this and I'll have to tell her that-"

"I will handle it. If she arrives and she is upset to the point that I feel you cannot handle it, I will make sure she understands the importance of being calm around you. All you need to do is rest. Will you eat something before she arrives?" Ciel shook his head.

"How can you expect me to be hungry at all/"

"I don't, but regardless, if you want your strength back, you must try to eat something, you'll never get better of you don't."

"I'll never get better anyway."Ciel mumbled.

"Must you be so difficult?"

"I just want to sleep Sebastian, I feel awful. " Ciel said in an exasperated tone.

"I know My Lord, this is why I ask these things. You need to work on gathering your strength now, as difficult as this may be. I'm not doing any of this to harm you and contrary to your belief, I'm not trying to torture you by putting you through this." The demon brushed back a few strands of hair from Ciel's face.

"Still don't understand why you care so bloody much."

"You must be one of the most stubborn humans I've ever encountered, but perhaps some things are best left unquestioned. if I let you sleep a bit longer, you have to promise me that you will try to eat something when I come to wake you up."

"I don't know if I can, it's all so frustrating."

"All I ask is that you try your best." Sebastian said softly. Ciel hesitated then nodded.

"Thank you. rest now, I'll be returning shortly. Lady Elizabeth will be here in just under three hours, I'm going to let you sleep for two. That should give you time to eat and rest a bit more before your visit."

"I still think it's better to cancel." Ciel grumbled. The Earl closed his eyes and and was soon asleep. Sebastian sighed and returned to his chores, only to be met in the hall by the other servants.

"Is the young Master alright?" Mey-Rin asked with concern. Finny, Bard and Tanaka stood beside her, looking to the butler for good news.

"He's as alright as his illness will allow, at the moment he's resting and I don't want you disturbing him. Lady Elizabeth is coming soon, I want everything in top order for her arrival. I won't tolerate any mishaps today. I have enough to handle at the present time. Am I understood?"

"Yes." The staff answered in unison.

"Good. Any misbehaving will result in serious consequences. There will be no broken dishes, destroyed lawns, fires and other such disasters. I will be checking on him frequently if anything changes, I will let you know. Until that time, please keep up with your chores. It's going to become increasingly difficult to look after you and assist the young Master who needs my attention. If you truly care for him, you will work hard to ensure I don't need to waste time picking up after you. Back to work now." Sebastian said sternly before walking off to prepare for the visit.


	3. Chapter 3

"Oh Ciel, I've missed you so much, how are you feeling?" Lizzy asked, she lowered herself into a chair at Ciel's bedside. The young Earl could see the deep concern in her eyes.

"considering everything-"

"Talk to me." She pleaded. She leaned foreword in her chair.

"I was trying and you interrupted me, you can't expect me to answer you if you don't allow me to talk, and for that matter you can't have a conversation that way at all. It only leads to irritation for us both." Ciel complained weakly. He was regretting the decision to be sitting up in his bed when his cousin arrived, it seemed to trigger his dizziness.

"You know what I mean. We used to talk all the time, about everything. I know you've been through a lot, I know that with your illness now it's harder for you. I just don't want you to completely shut me out Ciel. I-I love you, we're family talk to me." tears were now forming in her bright emerald eyes, Ciel was already losing his patience.

"If you're going to do all that, you'll have to go home Elizabeth, you know how I feel about tears and i'm in no mood to argue with you."He said.

"I didn't come here to argue at all, I wanted to see how you're feeling. You haven't let me come around since you've been ill. You're still so pale, I'm scared that-"

"you've nothing to be afraid of, I'll live according to the doctor, I told you that before." Lizzy bowed her head.

"Yes, you told me that, but to see you lying there and so-" She was unable to finish her sentence as the sobbing got the best of her. Ciel glared at his cousin angrily.

"Then you have two options, get used to it, or stop visiting. I'm not going to be getting up anytime soon. This is my life now. I will never be the same, I'll never be able to do anything, I'll never have the strength to stand on my own, never be able to go anywhere and you want to sit there and tell me you're scared, what about how it feels to know that I can't ever have a life, do you have any idea how it feels to be tired of being tired, to do nothing but lie in your room all damn day and-"

"Young Master, it isn't good for you to become so distressed, I must ask you to try to calm yourself now." Sebastian said sternly now entering the room, in his hands e carried the tray containing a bowl of soup, a glass and a pitcher of water which he set down on the bedside table.

"please excuse the young Master my Lady, he has been quite ill as you know and it has taken its toll on him." Sebastian placed reached out to place a hand on his master's head only for the boy to pull away.

"My Lord, the doctor would like us to keep watch on your temperature, please allow me to comply with-"

"I don't give a damn what the doctor wants, or anyone else for that matter, do you all think this is easy for me, that you can complain about how you feel toward this situation or what you should be doing. Would you like to know what I should be doing right now?" Ciel raged.

"Ciel, don't make yourself worse, please." Lizzy begged through her sobs.

"Worse you say, there is nothing worse than this, don't any of you understand that. I'd be better off d-"

"Enough." Sebastian said forcefully. "Lady Elizabeth, please excuse us for a moment."The girl stood and made her way out of he room without a word.

Once she had gone, Sebastian leaned in close to Ciel, his eyes glowing staring into Ciel's deep blue eyes. Ciel could feel the tightness in his chest from his raging. Sebastian reached out and grabbed the boy's face forcing him to continue staring into his eyes.

"You have gone too far, I know you're upset and your illness is difficult to deal with, you cannot take out your frustrations on your cousin, and as long as I am in this house, you will not say anything along the lines of that thought. Do you realize that by raging as you did just now, you are damaging your health even more. You of all people certainly have every right in the world to be angry. Your life has not given you much of a rest from the dark side, your days may seem like endless torment, but I promise you young master, that if you force yourself to see it through, you will find that it gets easier, you have not lost everything and you are not alone, do you understand me?" the demon's low tone was enough to make Ciel realize how serious it was.

"I-I'm not strong enough, I told you."Ciel was beginning to feel exhausted and allowed his eyes to close. A moment later, Sebastian released him and began to stroke his hair. Ciel struggled but forced himself to look up once more.

"If you lack the strength." The butler said, softer this time. "Then take it from those who need you. instead of pushing us away, I know you will find this to be hard to manage, but please accept the love you are given from the people around you. That means allowing us to lighten your burden when possible. The Earl turned from the demon.

"Master, what-"

"I'm so tired Sebastian, I told you how many times do I need to say it, I'm so weak all the time and I-I feel like I've fallen so far that I-" Ciel stopped realizing now how pathetic he was sounding. He felt the edge of the bed sink as Sebastian sat down, still stroking his hair comfortingly. Ciel turned back to see a faint smile on his butler's face.

"Then I have good news to share with you."

"What's that?"Ciel asked.

"When you have fallen so far that you can go no further, there is only one direction left for you to go...straight up. Now then, if you will allow it Master..." The butler reached over and took hold of the bowl of soup and the spoon. "Let's get your strength back shall we?" He dipped the spoon into the bowl and held it out to Ciel. The boy hesitated before opening his mouth and taking the food.

"well done my Lord. You have just taken a step toward becoming well again, after you've finished, I think you should rest and try your visit again later." Ciel swallowed the second spoonful and nodded.

"You're right, maybe...maybe I'll feel better after some rest."Ciel agreed.

"It's possible, perhaps a bit less short tempered at the very least." Sebastian replied. He could see that the road to Ciel's recovery would be long and winding but he was determined to get his master back to his full health, he felt proud of the boy for cooperating and taking the first step on their journey.


End file.
